Timepiece holder



July 24, 1923.

G. S. LOWNDES, JR

TIMEPIECE HOLDER Filed Nov. 30. 1921 Patented July 24, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE STEELE LOWNDES, JR., OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOT. T. FLAGIAER, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

TIMEPIECE HOLDER.

Application led November 30, 1921.

Y 10 all whom t may concern,

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. LowNDns, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State ofGeorgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TimepieceHolders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to means :tor securing a watch or other timepiece to the instrument board of a vehicle or to any suitable base. A

An object of the invention is to enable a watch or other time piece tobe held on an instrument board or the like, well cushioned againstvibrations, protected from accidental blows and secure against theft. Afurther object is to enable the time piece to be quickly locked inposition on the instrument board or quickly unlocked and removed by anauthorized person.

The invention consists in a holder adapted to secure a standard watch-or other time piece to an instrument board with its dial face exposedto view, said holder comprising means whereby it may be locked in placeby a key or permutation lock and when so locked retains the time pieceirremovably in the holder, as more fully explained in the ensuingdescription, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views,

Figure l is a front elevation of a watch conined in a holder, made inaccordance with this invention, secured to an instrument board;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation viewed from the back 0f an instrumentboard, illustrating a padlock securing the holder against unauthorizedremoval;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the holder, the instrument boardappearing in section;

Figure 4 is a central vertical section, through the holder, showing afragment of an instrument board in section and a watch in edge elevationwithin the holder casing;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Figure 4.

In the illustrated embodiment of this in- Serlal No. 518,890.

vention, 1 represents a base or supporting means, which ma@v be theinstrument board or' a motor vehicle, cr any instrument board, saidboard being pierced as indicated at 2 to permit the passage of a memberor members constituting a part oi" the anchoring means 3, said anchoringmeans being adapted to co-operate with clamping and locking devices tohold the casing 4 securely against the front of the board 1. Theanchoring means 3 may be engaged with, be secured to, or formed on thecasing 4 in any suitable manner whereby the casing may be drawn firmlyagainst the front of the instrument board by force suitably applied tothe anchoring means. The anchoring means may consist of a rod or wirecurved between its ends, as illustrated at 5, into a semi-circle, andhaving two threaded terminals G projecting, at diametrically oppositepoints, parallel with each other and at right angles to the plane of thecurvature oi the semicircular portion 5.

The casing 4 has a window 7 in its front, surrounded by a flange 8. Thecasing should be of a form, snugly to enclose the particular time piecedesigned to be held therein and may be of rounded contour (circular insection), of a diameter and depth adapted to receive within it astandard watch. The rear portion of the casing 4 is of greater internaland external diameter than the main body thereof, as illustrated at 9,whereby an annular internal shoulder 10 is formed at the junction or'the body with the rear part of greater diameter. Said semicircular part5 of the anchoring means fits neatly within the enlargement 9 and may bebrazed, soldered, welded or otherwise connected with the casing 4.Diametrically opposite the middle or' the curved part 5, at what isintended to be the highest part of the casing 4, when applied to aninstrument board, said casing may have an opening 11 cut into it fromthe rear edge, to accommodate the stem 12, of any standard type of watch13. The casing 4 .may be made of suitable sheet material such as metal,somewhat resilient, and susceptible of being drawn or stamped from adisk or planchette in a draw press or the like. In the process offorming the opening 11, two ears 14 may be struck inward as indicatedclearly in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

A. watch or similar time piece 13 may be inserted through the wideopening at the rear of the `casing 4 and pressed forward until the 'edgeof the face 'portion of the watch case rests against the flange 8. Thebody of the casing 4C may taper slightly from fro-ntto rear to enablethe watch to be the more easily inserted rand to afford a somewhatresilient and wcdging engagement between the inner wall of the casing 4and the perimeter of the bezel of the watch case, as well as tofacilitate the drawing or stamping operation in the manufacture of saidcase.`

In order to suitably cushion the watch or other time piece and hold itsecurely against rattling or other movement relative to the "casing i, aresilient plate 15 bears against the back of the watch case, said platebeing supported at the edge and otherwise spaced from theinstruinentboard `and other hard parts so as `to constitute cushion for the lwatch.Said plate 15 may consist of a. disk having two notches 151 in its edgespaced the same as the two 1a. After the watch or other time piece is inplace, the disk 15 may be inserted so that one half of its edge bears onthe front side of the curved momber 5 of the anchoringl means 3 and thenotches 15"L are in registration with the ears 14. The disk may `then beforced to posiv tion against the rear of the time piece casing androtated so as to move the notches 15'l out of registration with the ears1st, which then rest againsty the rear of the disk and cooperate withthe curved member 5 to prevent removal of said disk until the latter hasbeen 'again' rotated far enough to bring the notches into registrationwith the ears. Thus the time piece 1s wedged snugly into the holder andsuitably cushioned againstA jar. It will be apparent that retaining earsmay be formed otherwise than ears 14, but the construction shown ispreferred.

It will be understood that the time piece must Abe placed in the holderwhile thev latter is detached from the instrument board or other base 1.IVhen the time piece has been securely inserted as described the twoterminal arms 6 of the anchoring means may be inserted through two holes2 drilled through vvthe' base 1 and co-operate with securing means onthe rear side of the base. In order to secure the holder to said basethe ter minal arms 6 may be threaded and nuts 16 screwed thereon toclamp the holder against the front of the base. Said. nuts may then belocked against further rotation by a key or equivalent lockingmeans suchas a permutation lock, which locks the nuts to each other and thusprevents either from rotating,and in using the term key lock I mean toinclude requiring a key or secret knowledge to enable it to be locked orunlocked. For convenience in locking, the nuts 16 may be angled members.one leg or flange of each `having a threaded hole adjacent its endadapted to engage a threaded terminal arm (i, while in the other leg orflange of each is a hole 17 through both of which the hasp 18 of a padlock 19 may be passed as indicated in Figure 2, when the said legshaving said holes 1l' are brought into proximity with each other, asshown. In order to prevent the padlock from knocking against the base 1in response to vibrations it is preferred that the holes 17 benon-round, and that the hasp of the pad lock be of corresponding crosssection. Said holes have been illustrated as rectangular in thisembodiment while the hasp 18 is also rectangular in cross section sothat it can not rotate or vibrate sufficiently in the holes to allow thepad lock to knock against the instrument board. Wvashers 2O may bepro-vided to prevent the nuts 16 `from bearing` directly against thebase and for facilitating` and tightening` the nuts, and these washersmay be resilient or of lock washer type.

The mode of assembling the time piece with the holder, and of securingthe holder' to an instrun'ient board, or other relatively thin base, hasbeen sufficiently explained in the foregoingv description. Utilities ofthe improved holder have also been pointed out. From what has beenstated it will be apparent that an automobilist may, by the use of thisinniroveinent, provide himself with a suitable instrument board timepiece at slight expense; that he may, if desired', insert his own watchin the holder, quickly lock it in place so that it can not be removed byan 'unauthorized person, but may himself very quickly restore it to hispocket when there is no further need for it on the instrument board. Noris the instrument board materially defaced by the two smallI holesdrilled therein for enabling this at-v claim and desire to secure byLetters Patenty 1. The combination of a casing adapted to inclose a timepiece with its face exposed to view; means for securingthe casing to thefront of an instrument board, saidmeans including an anchoring devicecomprising a curved portion fitting within the rear edge of the casingand conforming to the interior thereof and members projecting rearwardltherefrom; and means engaging said members for securing said 'anchoringmeans.

2. The combination of a casing adapted to inclose a time piece with itsface exposed,

and a resilient plate supported by its edge within said casing andadapted to bear against the back of the time piece.

8. The combination of a casing adapted to inclose a time piece with itsface exposed, said lcasing having an open rear through which a timepiece may be inserted into the casing; a resilient plate; marginalsupporting means within the casing for supporting the plate in positionto bear against the back of the time piece; and means for securing thecasing to an instrument support.

4. The combination of a casing adapted to inclose a time piece with itsface exposed, said casing having an open rear through which, only a timepiece may be inserted or removed; a resilient plate having a notchededge, marginal supporting means within the casing for supporting theplate in position to bear against the back of the time piece, saidmarginal supporting means including a lug adapted to pass through thenotch in the edge of said plate and bear upon the rear side thereof.

5. The combination of a casing adapted to inclose a watch with its faceexposed, said casing having an open rear and a notch in its wall wherebya watch may be inserted into the casing from the rear with its stemprojecting through the notch, a resilient plate having a notched edge,marginal supporting means within the casing ttor supporting the plate inposition to bear against the back of the watch, said marginal supportingmeans including a lug struck from the wall of the casing adjacent thenotch, said lug being adapted to pass through the notch in the edge ofthe plate and bear upon the rear side thereof.

6. The combination of a casing adapted to inclose a watch with its faceexposed, said casing having an open rear and a notch in its wall wherebya watch may be inserted into the casing from the rear with its stemprojecting through the notch; means for securing the casing to aninstrument board including an anchoring bar having a curved portionfitting in and conforming to the curvature of the rear of the casing andarms adapted to pass through an instrument board; a lug on the inside ofthe casing opposite the curved portion of the anchoring means, and aresilient disk having a notch in its edge through which said lug maypass, said disk being adapted to rest on said curved portion and saidlug.

7. A time piece holder comprising a casing adapted to expose the face ofa time piece at its front; threaded members projecting from the rear ofsaid casing adapted to pass through an instrument board; two angledplates, one leg of each having a threaded opening engaging one of saidmembers, and the other leg a hole for receiving a lock hasp; and a padlock, the hasp of which is adapted to be inserted through the holes ofboth angled plates.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

GEORGE STEELE LOWNDES, JR.

